It’s a new month so we are launching our April challenge today over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog which is Anything Mixed Media Goes.
My mixed media page was inspired by spring and some new Simple Stories materials that I got as an early birthday present (grin!).
I started by covering the background with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and when dry I used a Moroccan stencil by Creative Expressions to apply some Vintage Photo Distress Ink over the top. I removed some of the ink using a baby wipe and then I applied some Brushed Sage Distress Ink through the stencil too. Next I added the pretty spring paper which was free from a magazine and based on designs from The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. I edged it using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell marker smudging the ink with my finger. Next I arranged and layered all the different paper pieces together; some of which were leftovers, some were fussy cut from Kaisercraft papers and the main images with the words “Enjoy the simple life” and “My heart” were chipboard pieces from Simple Stories. To finish, I splattered the page with some black DecoArt acrylic paint.
For more inspiration please check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and my fellow Design Team members over at Creative Artiste too. All you need to do is to use three different mediums on your projects to join our mixed media challenge; I hope you are inspired to join us, it would be lovely to see you there!
Simple Stories is a new brand to me and I was lucky enough to be treated to some chipboard and die cut pieces as well as some papers for my birthday; they’re all so gorgeous and I’m sure you’ll be seeing more of them soon (grin!).
I hope that you’re all staying safe and well! x
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
As well as Creative Artiste, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
Paperbabe Stamps and their #164 – Anything Goes challenge with my spring page.
Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Say It With Flowers.
This inspired me to create an art journal page full of spring flowers and quotes.
I started by recycling a birthday card envelope, that had a pretty pink tulip design on the inside, to create my background. Then I coloured the rest of the page with creamy yellow acrylic which I mixed using Parchment and Cadmium Yellow Liquitex paints. When dry, I arranged some tape measure pieces around the page along with a tulip washi tape sticker and some gorgeous flower designed quotes, postage stamps and border stickers which were from a Floral Shoppe Graphic 45 Sticker sheet. To finish the page, I added three yellow pearl gems.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday to see the wonderful Say It With Flowers creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies too (grin!). I hope you are inspired to join our challenge; it would be lovely to see you there!
As T Stands for Tuesday, here’s my friend’s cappuccino and Earl Grey tea, isn’t that tea cup and saucer adorable with all those gorgeous flowers (smile!) – Happy T Day everyone!
Hope that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be joining the following challenges:
The lovely Valerie of Bastelmania is hosting Art Journal Journey and has chosen Spring with my spring blossom and flower page.
Paperbabe Stamps and their #163 – Anything Goes challenge with my flower page.
Use Your Favourite Things over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as the pretty Graphic 45 stickers are amongst my favourite things, so much so I couldn’t bring myself to use them for years (smile!).
Over at Try it on Tuesday our challenge for the next 2 weeks is Summer Blooms.
For this challenge I added lots of flowers and created the quote from some Graphic 45 stickers so it reads “Summer when the earth laughs in flowers”; I hope you’re inspired to us too, I can’t wait to see your summer flower creations!
I started by covering the page with Parchment Liquitex acrylic paint and when it was dry, I applied some some watered-down ink from a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and some Buttercream Faber-Castell gelato over the top, smudging the colours with my finger. Then I stamped the tiny flowers over the background using a Magenta stamp and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. All of the postage stamps and summer wording were taken from either a Graphic 45 Season’s Collection sticker sheet or a Summer Collection 12×12 design paper. The large flowers were Washi tape stickers and to finish, I added three purple gemstone embellishments to add some sparkle.
For more inspiration please pop over to Try it on Tuesday and take a look you at the amazing Summer Blooms creations from our Guest Designer and my Design Teamies; it would be lovely to see you there (grin!).
There are so many summer blooms to see at Lytham Hall on our walks, whether it’s the beautiful flowers on display in the Garden Hub plant centre which surrounds some of the outside café area.
Or in the flower borders which you can just see here; I’m sharing the water flask that I take on my walks to join in the fun over at T Stands for Tuesday and say a big hello and welcome to the T Gang – Happy T Day everyone!
Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
For the sake of brevity I am no longer listing the individual items that I used to create my page, however I’m more than happy to let you know which particular product was used if you contact me via comments below or using the following contact me link.
Challenges
As well as Try it on Tuesday, I’m pleased to be able to join the following challenges today:
Art Journal Journey which is being hosted this month by the lovely Neet from Hickydorums; she has chosen Type as her theme so I’m joining with the different typed wording on my page.
Mixed Media Lovers Challenge Blog and their Challenge #4 Mixed Media Lovers with my mixed media page; this is a new blog so why not join in the fun too!
Triple the Heat challenge over at The Funky Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with shabby chic page that includes three lots of yellow sunflowers, three lots of washi tape stickers and border wording, three stickers of wording making up the main quote “Summer when the earth laughs in flowers” and three gemstone embellishments.
MIUCB #52 – Anything Goes + Mixed Media over at Mix It Up Challenge Blog with my mixed media summer page.
I love this time of the year, so I created this page to say hello to autumn and join a few challenge blogs – I hope you like it!
I started by creating the grungy background using a Spritz and Speckles stamp set by Paperbabes Stamps and Toffee Crunch, Rich Cocoa and Potter’s Clay Memento Inks. Then I used the same inks to add the leaves using an Autumnal Treasures stamp set that was free with a magazine. Next I stuck the horizontal decorative strip across the page which is from some Graphic 45 Autumn Collective paper using double-sided tape and then edged it with black Glitterations border stickers so it stood out more.
The circle was die cut from Lemon linen textured cardstock and then coloured using Fossilized Amber and Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Like the background, it was stamped using the Spritz and Speckles stamp set and the leaf stamp and the Memento Inks. The little bird was from the Autumnal Treasures stamp set and was stamped using black Archival Ink; I used a stamping platform to get a clear and bold finish. The “Life began in a garden” wording was cut from the Graphic 45 paper and I edged both the wording and the circle using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker before sticking them in place. To finish, I added some crystal gems to the page to add some sparkle.
Walks around Lytham Hall are always pretty this time of year with all the changing leaves and the colours on my page reminded me of these beautiful trees we saw there (grin!).
I hope that you’re all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Craft Sensations (Luxury Cardstock with Linen Texture CR0241/GE)
The Works (8 Cutting Dies)
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo)
Ranger Stamping Platform
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
Crystal Stickers by Mark Richards (Cluster Combo Style #5454C)
Challenges
I’m pleased to join the lovely Chris aka Pearshapedchris, who is hosting the Hold The Line challenge over at Art Journal Journey with the decorative strip that creates a line across my page.
I’m so pleased to be able to join in the #129 – Sketch challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps which inspired the design of my page (grin!).
I’m happy to join the Autumn Glory Challenge over at Stamping Sensations where the lovely Avril has just joined the Design Team with my stamped page – Many congratulations!
I’m also joining in the fun at Stinkin’ Inkers Challenge Blog and their Shades of Fall challenge with all the fall colours on my page.
My sister kindly bought me a beautiful rusty style robin garden decoration, as you may know I love robins and it really makes my day when I see them in our garden so this was the perfect gift. I wanted to capture it along with the words she wrote on the note that she gave me with this gift which reads “now you can have robins in your garden all the time” (grin!).
For the background I stamped the pink blossoms using black Archival Ink and a blossom stamp from Stampendous; they are painted using Twisted Citron Distress Ink for the leaves and a mixture of Fired Brick Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray for the flowers with additional touches of Putty colour from a Winsor & Newton Promarker. I applied Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink using a blending tool through a doily stencil randomly around the flowers then I spritzed the stenciling with water to re-activate the ink to give a washed out effect.
For the robins, I drew around my robin garden decoration using a pencil onto some mixed media paper and then spread Ranger Texture Paste in-between the drawn lines using a palette knife to create the rust texture. Once dry, I gradually coloured the texture paste to build up the rust effect using quite a few layers of Sanguine and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush markers and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Next I cut the robins out of the mixed media paper and I applied some Orange Soda and Mango Faber-Castell Gelatos by scraping them over the raised areas of texture paste and smudging the colour with my finger which finished the rust effect wonderfully.
For the sign, I cut a piece of white cardstock to size and stuck the message that my sister had written on one side of the card. I coloured the other side using a Sanguine and Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and attached the four seasons stickers from Graphic 45 over the top. I then framed the front and the back edges with texture paste using a palette knife and I also used the texture paste to cover a brad too. When dry, I add a piece of cotton string to the sign and then coloured both the string and the texture paste using the Sanguine and Dark Sepia markers and then the Orange Soda and Mango Gelatos to create a rusty effect.
Next I attached the sign by the string to the page using the brad; this allows it to be turned over to reveal the message from my sister which reads “now you can have robins in your garden all the time!!”; which is why I chose to list all the seasons on the other side (grin!).
The robins look so pretty in my garden; I have placed them just outside my kitchen window so I can see them all the time and as you can see they are so beautifully rusty – perfect!
I hope that you are all staying safe and well!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
With rusty texture that I created, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey that I’m hosting this month; thanks to everyone who has joined so far!
I’m so happy to join the Staying In The Background challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the pretty stamped and stenciled background that I created on this page.
I’m also happy to be able to join the #128 – Dimensions challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with the rusty elements and signage dimension on my page.
I’m joining the Complimentary Colours challenge over at Country View Challenges with the blue background and rusty orange of the robins.
I’m also joining the Favourite Stencil (and why) challenge over at the As You Like It Challenge with my stencilled background; I love the pretty doily pattern that this stencil creates as it looks so delicate, this stencil is also versatile as it can be joined together to create one whole doily or just used randomly as I did on this page.
Here is a list of all the scrap materials used to create this art journal page:
The new challenge for the next two weeks at Try it on Tuesday is Neat & Tidy.
Please note: If you are looking for my Texture page (I’m so excited to be guest host over at Art Journal Journey this month), please scroll down or click here.
I found our Try it on Tuesday theme very challenging as my art journal pages aren’t usually very neat and tidy (grin!). So I decided on an autumnal leaf design to welcome autumn/fall as it September signifies the beginning of this season – I hope you like it!
The background was covered in a piece of plain coloured paper using a glue stick.
I started my neat and tidy leaf design by creating a template for the columns of leaves; measuring and then die cutting the maple leaves so they were evenly spaced across the page. The maple leaves were cut using a Fall Foliage Thinlet from Tim Holtz and they were cut out of some linen textured cardstock. I cut 40 leaves in total, one by one using the template to position each leaf to create 8 columns, then I stuck 2 of the columns together to give more depth and dimension to the leaf die cutting.
Next I backed the leaf die cuts with some autumnal patterned papers from Craft Asylum and I used double-sided tape to stick the columns evenly across the page using the template to space them.
I used the template again to position the die cut leaves between the columns and achieve a uniform pattern. To finish, I added the “It’s Fall” image to the centre of the page, which is a sticker from Graphic 45.
For more inspiration, my fellow Design Teamies have also been Neat & Tidy over at Try it on Tuesday, please pop over and take a look.
As T Stands for Tuesday and it’s September maybe I can tempt you to a piece of homemade pumpkin roll filled with cream cheese frosting with your cuppa today. As you can see there’s even coffee today if you would prefer it to tea – Happy T Day!
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
With the texture from the die cutting, papers and leaves, I’m pleased to join the Texture challenge over at Art Journal Journey where I’m Guest Host this month; it would be lovely to see you there!
I am so delighted to be hosting Art Journal Journey this month and the challenge theme that I have chosen for this month is Texture.
We would like you to have fun creating texture on your pages. As you can see from the different panels on my page there are lots of possibilities to create texture. This could be by adding texture paste, crackle paste, high density mediums like gesso, paints or embossing powder. You could also use embossing folders, layers of papers, die cuts, fabrics or chipboard pieces too. The choice is yours!
I couldn’t just choose one texture so I decided to create my page using 21 different texture panels to inspire you and as I started creating the panels they turned into little scenes, I hope you like them (grin!).
If you’re interested, here’s close up pictures and full details of how the panels that make up my page were created. There’s also a list of all materials I used at the end of this post too.
1. Foil For my first panel, I stamped a dragonfly using black Archival Ink onto some coloured foil, which is recycled from an Easter egg wrapper. I stuck it onto the panel using a glue stick and to create the worn textured look I added some black Archival Ink to emphasis the creases and then I rubbed the foil back to its base silver colour with a baby wipe. To finish I added the glittery flower.
2. Teabags & staples Using staples I attached a used teabag to the panel and then I stuck three teacups on the top which were die cut from some design paper.
3. Glass beads I coloured the panel with some Summer Sky Memento Ink and then applied Liquitex Glass Beads Texture Gel over the top with a palette knife. Whilst the medium was still wet I pressed some pretty blue glass beads into the texture gel. When dry I added the little orange fish which is a brad.
4. Dried leaves I used matte gel medium to layer together a yellow skeleton leaf, a dried beech leaf and a die cut flower, which was cut from some linen textured paper using a Wildflower Tim Holtz Thinlet.
5. Fabric, threads and lace The panel was covered with some self-adhesive fabric and layered with a piece of frayed muslin, some Hessian/burlap and some threads which I topped with a lace flower.
6. Corrugated card I added a piece of corrugated card, which was recycled from some packaging, using matte gel medium then applied some Pébéo white gesso over the top. When dry, I emphasised the corrugations using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. The postage stamp is from Graphic 45 and was distressed using the Dark Sepia marker, Tea Dye Distress Ink and black acrylic paint.
7. Elastic bands I applied some matte gel medium to the panel and sprinkled on some Orthodontic elastic bands that CJ kindly set to me (grin!). When dry I covered them with white gesso and highlighted the circles using a Dark Sepia marker. Then I edged the panel using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and coloured some of the circle centres using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. To finish, I added three little hearts that were in my craft stash; they were created using the Falling Hearts Thinlet set from Tim Holtz and glossy white cardstock.
8. Crackle I covered the panel with white gesso and when it was dry I applied Earl Grey, Caramel and Coconut Faber-Castell Gelatos smudging the colours with my finger. To create the crackle I used a BoBunny stamp and some Toffee Crisp and Rich Cocoa Momento inks and Black Archival ink.
All the letters for the “texture” wording were created using an X-Cut die set; they were cut from both black and white paper and then layered together onto a panel of textured design paper.
9. Glitter I cut some different coloured glitter sheets into squares and then stuck them onto the panel using a glue stick.
10. Cork I simply stuck a piece of cork designed paper onto the panel.
11. Paint Splatter To add more texture I used some high density Liquitex paint, splattering Vivid Lime Green, Cold Grey and Bright Aqua Green onto the panel and leaving it to dry.
12. Wood This is one of my favourite techniques; I applied Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy and Ground Espresso Distress Ink pads vertically down the panel and used a paint brush to add some matte gel medium over the top keeping the brush strokes in a vertical direction. I repeated the process a couple of times making sure each layer dried before adding the next.
13. Texture paste I applied some Ranger Texture Paste to the panel using a Vintage Diamond stencil. When dry I coloured the panel using Salty Ocean and Cracked Pistachio Distress Inks, then emphasised the texture paste using some Midnight Sparkle lustre wax.
14. Napkin I simply covered the panel with a gold embossed napkin using a glue stick.
15. Wooden chipboard pieces and rust effect I started by sticking the cogs in place using matte gel medium. When dry I added layers of different shades of rust and brown acrylic paints which I had created by mixing Cadmium Red, Cadmium Yellow and black acrylic paints. When dry I added more detail using Dark Sepia and a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then I added some patina by lightly stippling some Bright Aqua Green acrylic paint over the top.
16. Paper layers I covered the panel with leftover paper pieces and edged them using a black Uni Pin marker. The flower is a paper sticker and the foliage was cut using a Funky Floral Thinlet from Tim Holtz and coloured using two green Winsor & Newton Promarkers.
17. Doily and gems I added lots of texture to the panel using layers of doily which I edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia marker. They are stuck in place using double-sided tape and then embellished with some textured gemstones to add some shimmer and shine.
18. Embossing Folder, thread and buttons I used an embossing folder to add a flower design to a piece of Kraft cardstock and then coloured the raised embossed design using a white Uniball gel pen and Aqua Green Promarker. Then I wound some wax thread around the panel and attached a big button.
19. Drywall/Plasterboard Tape I added some drywall/plasterboard tape to the panel and coloured it using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and White Linen Dylusions Ink Spray. I splattered the panel with black DecoArt acrylic paint and added some washi tape to create the foreground. Then I added the mushrooms which are from the Field Notes Ephemera Set from Tim Holtz.
20. Embossing enamel and die cut trellis The panel background was coloured using Tea Dye and Antique Linen Distress Ink and Dandelion and Pistachio Memento Ink. The trellis was die cut from white cardstock covered in black Archival Ink and Chunky Silver Stampendous embossing enamel. I added two little birds which were stamped using black Archival Ink, coloured with Promarkers and fussy cut out.
21. Tissue Paper For the final panel, I crumpled some white tissue paper and then added it to the panel using matte gel medium. When dry, I coloured it with Lemon, Cadmium Yellow, Cerulean Blue, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna watercolour paint. The flower was cut from some Kanban cardstock using a Wildflower Tim Holtz Thinlet.
Once the panels were complete I stuck them onto the page using double-sided tape; I coloured the background with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to outline the panels before sticking them in place.
Do you have a favourite panel? It’s hard for me to choose, maybe number 3 with the beads and little fish, number 6 as I love the corrugated card, number 15 with cogs and rust or number 20 as you know I adore robins (grin!).
I hope that you are inspired to join us at Art Journal Journey this month too! We are really looking forward to visiting you and seeing all the Texture that you create on your pages (grin!).
Hoping that you’re all staying safe and well! x
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
I’m joining the It’s A Wrap challenge over at the The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge Blog with the Easter Egg wrapping, corrugated packaging and tissue paper wrap I used to create my panels.
I’m happy to be able to join the Anything Goes challenge over at Paperbabe Stamps with my page.
We have been enjoying the antics of the cheeky House Sparrows that have been visiting the bird feeder in our garden so I created a page to remind me of them.
I used my new snowflake thinlet set by Tim Holtz and some images from a Winter Collective paper by Graphic 45 (also new to my craft stash) to create this page, so I’m pleased to join the Something New challenge that I’m hosting this month over at Art Journal Journey. I’d like to thank all of you for your lovely comments and wonderful creations so far, I hope you are having fun getting creative with this theme (grin!).
I stencilled the brickwork background using Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Ink adding some Peeled Paint Distress Ink so they looked like the brick walls of my garden. Next I die cut some snowflakes using my new thinlets set by Tim Holtz and Big Shot machine. They are cut from some recycled Kraft paper and are stuck in place using a glue stick.
Then I layered together some images and borders that I cut from the Winter Collective paper by Graphic 45 which are stuck in place using double-sided tape; the sparrows reminded me of the ones in our garden. I added some red glittery gems to add some sparkle which finished the page.
Here are the house sparrows visiting the feeder in our garden, they are such fun to watch as there are about 9 or 10 of them and only 4 perches on our feeder so they all fly to the feeder at once and then push each other off the perches to get to the seed (grin!).
In the end, they all seem to get there fair share of seed. We are pleased to see them in such numbers in our garden as House Sparrows in the UK have declined over the years and they are one of the highest conservation priorities.
We loved seeing them and these shared the love by creating a heart shape as they fed on the feeder (double grin!).
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
I’m happy to join in the Love challenge over at Country View Challenges with my Winter Sparrows art journal page as we love them visiting our garden.
I’m also pleased to join in the fun over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge and their Something New challenge too as I used new products to create this page.
I’m also pleased to join the Snowflakes challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday with all the snowflakes that I included on my page too.
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Today I chose to travel back to Paris whilst Art Journaling for the new challenge that is being hosted by the lovely Alison over at A Vintage Journey which is:
We’re all getting older.
It has nothing to do with your age, it’s all about making things look older; here’s what the challenge is about:
“Time for weathering and distressing, or some ageing and antiquing. Make a project using techniques for making the new look old, whether that’s paper projects, altered art or mixed media. Just remember to ensure that you create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk”.
I created a worn and distressed Art Journal page of Paris making the collaged papers look old.
To start, I ripped pieces of book pages about France which came from an old encyclopaedia and also pieces from a sample of Paris themed wallpaper. Then I collaged them onto the page using matte gel medium.
Once dry, I distressed the collage papers by staining them using Ground Espresso and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks. I did this by stamping the ink pads onto an acrylic block, spritzing with some water and pressing/dripping the ink onto the page and also by painting diluted ink along the edges of each of the collaged papers. To add to the worn grungy look, I also lightly sprinkled the page with some Dark Brown Brusho powder, spritzed it with water to activate the colour and dried it with my heat gun. Next I added some white gesso using a baby wipe and when dry, I edged the collaged pieces using a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker smudging the ink with my finger.
I stamped a series of Paris related stamps using black Archival ink; the stamps included some little round “T” postage mark stamps from Prima Marketing and also a birdcage, bee, “Paris”, filigree branch and two crowns by Graphic 45 from Hampton Art. I then splattered the whole page with black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush.
I die cut some flower shapes and a round disc from dark brown and blue patterned papers using some Spellbinders dies and my Big Shot machine. Then I used two rectangular pieces of the same patterned papers which I distressed using scissors, the Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and the Dark Sepia Big Brush marker. I cut out an oval picture of the Eiffel Tower from the wallpaper sample and backed it with white card. Then I layered them all onto the page using double-sided tape and added some pearl gem stickers along the edge of the patterned paper.
To finish, I added a butterfly sticker from Tim Holtz and some pretty pale blue silk roses which are stuck in place using Glossy Accents.
If you want to join in the fun why not create a weathered, distressed or age effect too and share it with us at A Vintage Journey, it would be lovely to see you there!
For more Inspiration, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey too.
It seems like many years have passed since we visited Paris, so I guess I must be getting older but hopefully not as worn and distressed as my page (grin!).
This is one of the yummy patisseries that we went to – can you guess which cake I chose from the lovely display here?
My favourite is always the strawberry tarts, they are so delicious and I only had one, I promise … well I only had one everyday for the week we were there (double grin!).
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
I’m pleased to join Art Journal Journey where I’m hosting the Something New challenge this month as I took “new” papers and distressed them to make them look old. Also smooshing the Distress Inks directly onto the neutral collaged papers to make them look old was “new” to me and I’m so glad it worked; it was so much fun making them worn and grungy (grin!).
Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:
Paris wallpaper sample
Book pages from old encyclopaedia
Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy, Ground Espresso)
Colourcraft Brusho (Dark Brown)
Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Dark Sepia 175 B)
Pébéo White Gesso
Hampton Art 7 Gypsies (Birdsong ICO151)
Prima Marketing Clear Stamps (Rossi Belle 587499)
Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
Spellbinders Die Cut – Unknown
The Works Paperstack (Vintage Experience CRO239/TW6)
X-Press It! double-sided tape
Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
Our new challenge over at A Vintage Journey is Window On Your World, which is being hosted by Deb. Here’s what it is all about:
“This month we would like to see some kind of window or tunnelled element in your creations. Think hollowed out books, multiple layers with openings to see what has gone before, hidden flaps or windows that when opened reveal a secret element. Just remember to create in one of our preferred styles of vintage, shabby, mixed media, art journaling, industrial, timeworn or steampunk.”
I couldn’t resist art journaling for Deb’s fabulous Window On Your World challenge. Taking the challenge literally, I was inspired by the actual autumnal window display in my house incorporating maple leaves, pumpkins and sunflowers for my autumnal window scene.
I started by stencilling the brickwork using a mixture of Spiced Marmalade, Tea Dye and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Then I created the grass by stamping a grass stamp with Cottage Ivy Memento Ink onto some green paper and cutting it out; it’s stuck in place using a UHU Stic which I used for most of the paper elements. Next I coloured some watercolour paper using Brushed Corduroy, Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso Distress Ink and used a branch Thinlet from the Funky Floral set by Tim Holtz to create the tree. I also stamped a wood grain stamp from BoBunny using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink along the trunk.
I used a Vintage window die set cutting it out several times from white cardstock and one from some Tim Holtz wood design paper using my Big Shot machine; they are layered together to form the window frame and window box. To create the interior view through the window, I layered the window frame onto a piece of lace and then some pumpkin coloured patterned paper. The flowers for the window box, little butterflies, pumpkin and “Autumn” sign are all fussy cut from Autumn Collective paper by Graphic 45 and are edged using Spiced Marmalade and Ground Espresso Distress Ink and a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell Big Brush marker.
I also created a “be thankful” sign to tie into the season too, using Clipping Stickers from Tim Holtz; both signs are backed with some Tim Holtz paper.
Lots of small maple leaves finished the page; they were die cut using a Fall Foliage Thinlets set from Tim Holtz from the same Graphic 45 paper, coloured along the edges using Spiced Marmalade and Ground Espresso Distress Ink, edged with a Dark Sepia Faber-Castell marker and stuck in place using double-sided foam tape.
If you enjoy art journaling like me and want to add a window to your page or interpret the theme by creating some openings or hidden flap-windows on your page then why not join us this month (grin!). Alternatively for lots more inspiration and ideas, please pop over to see the amazing creations from my fellow Creative Guides over at A Vintage Journey; it would be lovely to see you there!
I love the seasons and always decorate my dining room window to celebrate each season.
With the challenge being Window On Your World, I was inspired to use some of the elements, namely the maple leaves, pumpkins and sunflowers, that are contained within my own window display as part of my art journal page design; it was such a fun page to create (grin!).
Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.
Challenges
I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs, like A Vintage Journey, as I enjoy taking part, they provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m joining today:
I’m pleased to join the lovely Rike from rike’s art and her Fruit and Veggies challenge over at Art Journal Journey as I included pumpkin on my page.
I’m happy to join in the fun over at Creative Artiste Challenge Blog for their #55-Anything Mixed Media Goes with my mixed media art journal page including inks, papers, lace, markers and stickers.
Let's Art Journal 